Working at Amazon

I found some youtube videos showing a little bit of the Amazon warehouse. Thought you all might be interested in knowing what I am doing this fall and holiday shopping season.  I am a picker. I walk 10+ miles a day to pick the items for your order.

So think of me when you order from Amazon this holiday season. I will be working 50+ hours a week doing my part to get your gifts to you on time. ;)

I'm a Social Butterfly

I am having such a great time during my time off from work.  Work on the other hand just gets in the way. ;)

I am usually not a very social person... I am quiet and timid and am usually a shrinking violet but for some reason I feel comfortable with the people I am around here.  I love hanging out with them and just having a good time.    I have many new friends and we have done everything from dinner, hiking, karaoke and just talking outside all night long.  I don't think I have gone a whole day without talking to someone and that is a miracle for me.  I don't even feel I need a day all to myself which is normally very important for my sanity.  People aren't on top of me but yet they are around.  I don't feel lonely and I can't help but have a smile on my face... even at work.

Life is good and I am blessed.

New Job

I started my new job for Amazon as Campforce for the holiday season.  They hire a few thousand workampers to help them thru the holiday shopping season.  They give you a campsite at a local campground and an hourly wage.  I am on my third week and starting 10 hour shifts.  I am what they call a picker... so I go throughout the warehouse getting items people bought online and sending it to the people who pack it up and ship it out.  It is exhausting but I love feeling my body in motion... well my feet may say otherwise.  I figure here in a couple weeks the soreness will go away and I will be singing holiday songs at the top of my lungs to entertain myself... as if I was on Blue.

Here are a few pictures of where I am staying.  I am staying at a state park in the area.  Love it!... well I would love it even more if they figured out how to clean the bathrooms but you can't always have everything. ;)

It is called Green River Lake State Park so I am obviously on a lake. :)

It has a beach, miniature golf, hiking trails, boat dock and fishing.

This is my campsite for the next 3 1/2 months.  The boys are loving it and I am enjoying relaxing evenings eating dinner on the picnic table with Poco and Nube outside with me.

I had a challenge the other day to be in one of the pictures I take... so here I am.  Yep my hair is growing back... might need a comb here soon. hehe

Fishing with my dad

On my way to my next gig I got to spend a couple of days with my parents.  They just got a boat over the summer so my dad and I had to take it out and go fishing.  As a child my dad would take my brothers and I fishing and I always enjoyed spending the day at the "lake"... well where we went were really more like ponds but as a child little things always seem so big. :)

The first evening we went out we didn't catch anything but the next morning we got out nice and early to get in a few more hours before my dad went to work and I had a lunch date with my mom and a friend.

Starting nice and early... watching the sun rise.

I caught the first fish of the morning but then I didn't have any more luck until we were done and I caught the last fish of the day.

My dad's first fish... I about fell off the boat laughing because he was so excited when he thought he caught something and his face was priceless when that is what he realized he caught.

Then he was catching fish left and right... this was a good sized fish he caught.  I think we caught 6 fish all together so not too bad.  We were just catch and releasing... I'm sure if we caught a large one that we would take home but these little guys we let back in to be caught by someone or something else.

It was nice just to be cruising around on the water and looking and listening to nature.

Old Time Fun

Before I left my job in Montana we spend an afternoon taking old time photos of me, Poco and Nube.  Here are some of the pictures.  We had a lot of fun.  I have a few more I will post later.  So if you are in Virginia City Montana next summer don't forget to stop by Wallace Street Photographic Emporium and tell them Jackie sent you. :)

Hot Hot Hot travels

Sorry I have been so late on my postings.  I left Montana September 4th to travel to Kentucky for my new gig.  It was so beautiful in Montana and Wyoming but when you hit Nebraska it was triple digit temperatures in parts.  I had to change my riding hours so that I could be with the boys during the hotest parts of the day.  I would wake up early and ride until around noon and then if I needed to ride a bit more I would ride early evening for a couple of hours before dark.

This picture was taken just outside of Sheridan Wyoming.

On the really hot days I would get a bag of ice and poor it into the water bowl and hold it near the window with the fan pulling the air thru.  It would give us a bit of 'air conditioning'.  Randall figured out right away where the coolest spot was.  I also had one afternoon I bought a box of frozen fruit pops.  I ate 1 and Poco and Nube ate the rest.  We survived but it sure wasn't pleasant.  Yuck-o!

On our last morning on my way to spend a couple of days with my parents I stopped in Metropolis Illinois to get a picture of Superman for my nephew.

I got to spend a day with him on my way thru Nebraska... he liked to play in the trailer and pretend we were going to Disney World.

A Day At Yellowstone

Yesterday I spent the day at Yellowstone.  We had a great time.  I didn't ride Blue thru but went with some friends.  It was a beautiful day and we checked off 10 animals from the handout they give you at the gate.  We even saw 2 bears!!  I didn't get a picture of them but we were definitely excited about it.  Here are some pictures from the day.

There were many bison along the way.  This one was wandering along the side of the road.  I could just imagine him completely annoyed by everyone driving by and taking his picture.  Probably can't wait until the tourist all go home for the season. ;)

Old Faithful

Poor bird has a broken wing. :(

Pictures of the lake

A geyser by the lake

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the waterfall.

As we were leaving the park we got to finally see some antlers.

We had a fabulous day and boy did I sleep well.  Less than a week left here in Montana then on the road again.  Heading to Kentucky for the fall to work for the season with Amazon.

Warrior of Dreams

A couple of days ago I was having a difficult time staying in the present.  I was lying on my bed watching some movies going in and out of thoughts and dreams.  I look up and see this image on the bedroom door.

Do you see him?  He has a large nose, aged eyes, large lips, tall hair, long beard and a shield.

I imagine him to be the Warrior of Dreams.  He protects me from my nightmares and protects the innocence of my dreams.

I imagine when he is not in the door his hair is multiple shades of gray.  He is quite distinguished and a senior warrior.  Maybe he is my personal warrior.  He has followed me throughout my life.  I could imagine these Dream Warriors each having one person they protect from when they are born until they die.  

Look how serious he is... such honor.  This is an image I have needed and it is amazing what detail I see in a door.  I was really excited when I could take a picture of it... when I showed it to someone else they could actually see him too.  Who would not feel safe with a Warrior of Dreams.

On My MInd

I just finished the book 'Wild' by Cheryl Strayed.  It was an interesting book and now I want to hike the Pacific Crest Trail.  Anyway... books of people's life stories always confuse me and I start to think what a failure I must be.  Cheryl for instance hikes the PCT to find herself and deal with some past events.  She is out on the trail for a summer and what else is there to do but be with yourself.  At the end of the book she talks about her life now and it all seems perfect.  As if that hike changed her life to the point all of her other negative coping skills disappeared.  Of course she is married to her perfect man with kids and the whole thing.  Is her life really as great as she makes it out to be?  Not to pick on Cheryl because all of these types of life finding books end the same.  Why can't someone just say... yes, I did that and it changed my life but I still struggle... or life didn't quite turn out the way I thought but I have learned to cope and life is good.  I would think after a life changing event like a hike on the PCT the world would be different... it is what I am noticing with my life on the road.  Why the need to make it all seem so  perfect... like if I went and hiked the PCT, for instance, next summer everything in my life would fall in place and I wouldn't have bad days or bad thoughts or loose days from depression or think about my body and food in a negative way.

I have had people ask me if I consider myself recovered from my Eating Disorder.  I say no because recovered is such a permanent word.  I feel I will be in recovery forever.  Life happens, things happen, thoughts come about and yes, my first thought is my Eating Disorder.  I may or may not act upon those thoughts but to me recovered means my Eating Disorder isn't there anymore.  I can deal with life without ever thinking about depriving myself in some way shape or form.  That I love my body no matter what I wear or what the media tells me.  I don't have days where depression takes over or anxiety about the world.  I would be able to live a 'normal' life... well, as normal as I would ever want my life to be.  I guess 'normal' for me would mean being able to feel whatever the feelings may be, not to take out other people's actions on myself, treat food as what it is, a need for survival instead of something that I need to be allowed to have.  My life can be exhausting.  I can have a few good months and then out of the blue be knocked down and it will take a few months to get myself back to the point I was before.  It is frustrating.  I feel like a failure when I have to constantly go back to my team and each time I fear they won't be there anymore.  They will give up because I just can't get it right.

I have also been asked when I will write a book about my life.  How in the world do you pick out the moments to write about.  I have over 30 years of life, drama, recovery not to mention my life on the road.  What is it suppose to be... an encyclopedia of Jackie.  Each moment creates the next and I still haven't figured it all out like it seems these other life changing books have done.  Maybe I am missing something somewhere??   Maybe I want to much??  Who knows.  Just something on my mind the past few days.

Post slacker

So sorry I have been such a slacker on posting.  Not a lot going on but yet so much going on.  Waiting to see when I will start my next gig in Kentucky and getting very anxious.  I can't wait to be back on the road again.  I have enjoyed most of my time here in Montana but I am getting antsy.  I just don't like staying in one place for too long.  I have been daydreaming a lot about things to come.  I can't wait to have a campout with my nephew in Nebraska and visiting my very good friend in Kansas for more margaritas. ;)  Somewhat excited about the next gig but even more excited about being in New Mexico this January.  I have even considered finding a fall job in the southwest instead of heading to Kentucky but haven't had any luck yet.  I am kind of board with the east... been there done that kind of thing.  I want to spend a lot of time out west where I haven't been yet.  That will be my goal for this next spring... just traveling and working out west.

I have also been stuck in my thoughts a lot lately which is a growing opportunity but also a challenge.  Thoughts and feeling come around that can be hard to deal with but that is life.  I have a great group of women who help me out and even though I have a hard time reaching out they are always there cheering me on.  I am one lucky woman.

Not much else in my world.  Hopefully I will get some time for a walking adventure soon. :)

Rainbows Galore

Montana is the place for rainbows.  I have seen some of the most beautiful full rainbows here and I get one about once a week.  Here are a few pictures of the rainbows I have seen.  They go clear cross the sky and even double rainbows.  :)

Afternoon Walk

Here are some pictures from my walk yesterday afternoon.  It was so relaxing and I only saw 2 cars while on my walk.  I love feeling like I am in the middle of nowhere.

The picture above with the 'V' on the mountain is Virginia City.  I guess all the towns in the area put their initial on the mountain.

Busy Weekend

We had quite the busy weekend at work.  Lots of people, lots of photos and some very interesting people.  I was a bit horrified by a few people.

I had one family with an adopted oriental child who was probably around 8 years old.  One of the adults who came in and said he wanted to dress the boy as a chinese laundryman.  Then he took the kid aside and told him he could be a Mexican Indian cowboy.  The boy's face just broke my heart so I interrupted and took the kid aside and dressed him as the outlaw he wanted to be.

There was a family with 2 small children and they both had some sort of disability.  The boy, who was 6 was most likely Autistic or a combination of things.  I was quite horrified to learned the parents had absolutely no coping skills for this child and expected him to dress up and take pictures.  The dad got upset because of course the poor boy started to throw a tantrum when the photographer tried to put on a scarf.  I was appalled to hear the dad grabbed the kid by the face and got angry with him.  To keep myself from getting into the parents faces and telling them off I took the kid aside and tried to find a way to get him dressed and calm him down.  I kept asking the parents what the boy liked and they had no idea.  How could you not know your child if he speaks or not??  I was horrified.  They did get their picture done with a little bit of modifications.  Then as they were leaving the grandmother tried to put the little girl who was maybe 2 into the stroller by grabbing her and shoving her in and then repeatedly telling her to shut up as she cried.  This little girl had some sort of issues and I was just appalled.  It is so hard for me not to push the parents aside and do it for them in a less traumatic way.  :(

This last family stuck in my mind the whole night.  I have worked with children with disabilities for years and hate seeing the children in a situation where it is almost impossible for them to be successful.  The only solution I could come up with that would be low cost and hopefully help a little bit would be to put together a PECS (Picture Exchange Communications System) schedule of what will happen while they are there.  Just a simple.  Play Dress Up, Take Picture, All Done type of thing.  And then maybe a few different ones of what the photographer would expect... smile, angry face and things like that.  Hopefully, that will give the people a bit more than just a bunch of words that mean nothing.  Now where to find these PECS... or maybe create something like it myself.

On another subject we had lots of rain storms this weekend.  They just pass thru but it was downpours and small hail every time.  I have never seen it hail every time it rains... quite crazy.  Then on Monday we had quite severe lightning.  It did strike a house in town but I guess it didn't cause too much damage.  One evening there was a rainbow all the way across the sky very faintly.  There was a little portion that nice and bright.

Happy 4th of July

Growing up I loved the 4th.  You could start to buy fireworks on or right before my birthday.  My parents never let us get them before the 4th but you could hear them all around town.

The town I grew up in is the 4th of July city in Nebraska and there were things to do from sun up thru the night.  Everyone in town is out and about so I would see friends, family and other acquaintances I hadn't seen all summer around the town square.

I have yet to be anywhere else with things to do all day.  Maybe a BBQ in the evening and some fireworks but it isn't the same.  

The last place I lived all the towns around had fireworks on different days.  Quite odd and when I lived in Florida I never saw fireworks either because I'm not a huge fan of masses of people. 

This year I am working and will go to a BBQ and watch some fireworks.  Should be an on day.

I decided to walk to work to avoid parking issues and the crazy tourist on the road.  It was quit a nice little over a mile walk.  I of course forgot my camera but took a picture with my iPod. One day I will remember to bring my camera.